I understand a agree that the more a comunity holds to WE and less to I it will not help to get anything done. I will keep this in mind. I find I am defending my intentions rather than working towards the intended post. 2 heads are better than 1 so I'm am reaching into the choir for ideas on this subject. Your post again moves us to another key element of burning man. Particapation. What can I do to be apart of the experience at burningman how can I contribute... what are some ideas you might have for me to inspire others. Gifts, gadgets. Concepts. The pottie project was a think tank of sort to get people aware of the crap that gets trown into the johns. The idea was a WE concept and very creative. Is there a way to put this concept towards some other issues.

jerroc wrote:Is burningman becoming the next party hot spot of the summer. Are people buying tickets to a art/culture festival or a giant no rules, topless girls, free beer, international Dj week long I'm so getting laid party. I know we have to take the bad with the good in life but at the rate of a 20% population increase when is the bad going to out weigh the good. The idea of this post is not to complain but to create a think tank. How can we preserve the good? Should there be some rules in place to keep burningman from evolving into the party hotspot for the general public? does the promotion of international Djs go aginst the 3rd listed of the 10 principles? should we look at the cons of nudity and make some compormises? Should news media be allowed to film and exploit the event and will they do it with the best intrest of the event in mind? [/i]

Parties and artists have coexisted for a long time. Attempting to separate them will only drive away the artists.

Keeping this event a "secret" is fruitless. Banning the media won't make people less eager to show up (it might even make it worse).

I don't have a lot of expectations that this event is a utopia.

The best way to defend the good is to create more of it.

As far as I can tell, the worst part of nudity is forgetting the sunscreen.

i find that the best way to hold on to what I find to be the true a root meaning behind BM is to be responsible for the people i choose to introduce to it.
As much as I love my friends and family there are those who "would" come with me that I would not take.

I have dear friends who wanted to go. i was excited and told them we should have a planning party...i wanted to share and teach them the principles and ways that i was so lucky to have learned from my awesome neighbors in san diego in 2001....but one of the girls just didn't get it. too "smart" and hard headed. it took a few sentences for me to abandon the idea.
"Oh, well, I have it all planned out. We're going to fly in, buy some cheap bikes and just give them away at the end of the week and fly home."
This after she said she read the links I sent her.
She never went and most likely never will and we are all better off for it.

gadgets, gifts and the likes?
i can't see gadgets and gifts making ANY difference in what you're concerned about. a gadget of gift could only serve to "ice the cake" so to speak after a strong connection and teaching/learning exchange.

That part up above where I said I didn't agree with all 10 "principles"- gifting is the big one I don't like. Not because I want a cash economy, pretty much the opposite- "gifting" has become an expectation, not a true gift (for proof just look for the "I didn't get a necklace" thread).

I did a full rant on this in the BRC Weekly "gifting as a spectator sport".

I think you are mistaken. I find it very easy to pick out true gifts and gifts for the sake of gifts.

Saturday before gates my bike tube popped, i was luckily gifted a new tube after a LONG walk back to camp. That saved my entire burn.

I stumbled across "Geo's Hut" in deep playa friday night during the dust storm. Met Geo and he gifted me a Vietnamese jaw harp, how effing perfect.

As opposed to the trinket bracelets, hugs and body painting (but to each there own)

When we get to a point where you are being offered "gifts" as you ride down the street, then is the time to start worrying.

I remember reading something from Larry Harvey that actually made a lot of sense. He stated that the future of Burning Man is in the regional events. Burning Man is like a pressure cooker. There is so much going on inside that eventually, something is going to happen and it will all blow up. Perhaps a really serious event will occur and cause BLM to not allow Burning Man to occur at BRC one year. It might relocate again, but the size, magnitude, and history of Burning Man will make it difficult to find a new home.

There might even be a year where there is no Burning Man.

Then, there will only be regional events. The spirit of Burning Man will always live on, even if there is no Burning Man.

Fire_Moose wrote:I think you are mistaken. I find it very easy to pick out true gifts and gifts for the sake of gifts.

Ah, but I never said there weren't "true gifts" out there- I received many myself, from things like Shams fantastic pendant; to mango pickles; to a friend giving me a scrambled egg "burrito" on Sunday when I was having a melt down....

My concern is the "I need to have gifts to give away" attitude that's becoming more prevalent. How many threads do we get on here as the event nears with newbs wondering what they should bring to "gift"?

The things you received were what I would think of as a "gift": something that has meaning and will be remembered beyond the event itself.

And a hug from the right person can fix all the wrongs in your day. A hug from a skanky hippie just makes you want to shower in lysol.

It's a camping trip in the desert, not the redemption of the fallen world - Cryptofishist

Gifts I will add for 2011 are blinki lights. a few extra bike cables, some trinket gifts when I'm inspired, xtra water, energy bar, rolls of 1 ply TP, my coffee goes like crazy so I will need more of it. A gift can be many things. I just hope some of these items will be put to good use. Anyone have suggestions on some things the new "BURNERS" forget to bring. I have more room in my gift box,

jerroc wrote:Gifts I will add for 2011 are blinki lights. a few extra bike cables, some trinket gifts when I'm inspired, xtra water, energy bar, rolls of 1 ply TP, my coffee goes like crazy so I will need more of it. A gift can be many things. I just hope some of these items will be put to good use. Anyone have suggestions on some things the new "BURNERS" forget to bring. I have more room in my gift box,

jerroc wrote:Gifts I will add for 2011 are blinki lights. a few extra bike cables, some trinket gifts when I'm inspired, xtra water, energy bar, rolls of 1 ply TP, my coffee goes like crazy so I will need more of it. A gift can be many things. I just hope some of these items will be put to good use. Anyone have suggestions on some things the new "BURNERS" forget to bring. I have more room in my gift box,

gogglessippy cupsdust masks

small travel packets of personal wipes
spare water bottles from thrift stores'n'shit
industrial-sized pack of earplugs for sleeping

jerroc wrote:Gifts I will add for 2011 are blinki lights. a few extra bike cables, some trinket gifts when I'm inspired, xtra water, energy bar, rolls of 1 ply TP, my coffee goes like crazy so I will need more of it. A gift can be many things. I just hope some of these items will be put to good use. Anyone have suggestions on some things the new "BURNERS" forget to bring. I have more room in my gift box,

gogglessippy cupsdust masks

small travel packets of personal wipesspare water bottles from thrift stores'n'shitindustrial-sized pack of earplugs for sleeping

I planed toilet kits for gift one year.. Didn't, they would have ended up in the portas.. Takes some planing to be nice to people..

People that don't care enough to read it before they get to the event, won't much benefit or ever care about a laminated copy once they are already there--and those that have read it, don't need it and it would end up as MOOP.

People that don't care enough to read it before they get to the event, won't much benefit or ever care about a laminated copy once they are already there--and those that have read it, don't need it and it would end up as MOOP.

I don't know who Durkheim is, but I tend to believe that two opposites can, and do, dwell in every human heart. More than two, in fact.
I think a lot of theorizing about human society is simplistic and only occasionally accurate.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

>> When we get to a point where you are being offered "gifts" as you ride down the street, then is the time to start worrying.

You know, on the surface of it, I would have agreed with you. But I was walking down the street one afternoon at BM, and a woman riding in a small golf cart looking thing called me over while pointing to her wrist. I thought she wanted to know the time, since I was wearing a watch. She grabbed my other wrist and put on a small bracelet. I got a lot of other sweet things from a load of folks (mmmmmm, root beer floats) but that simple wooden bead bracelet still makes me smile and reminds me of the best parts of BM while I'm out here in the default world. So maybe the right trinket will really do someone else some good.
Bud